Don’t dump! Tips on how to have a zero-waste spring clean

Finally, spring has finally sprung! Now the long, cold winter is over it’s time to emerge from your duvets, woolly scarves and hats and instead get out in your garden or start the inevitable spring clean out

It’s out with the old and in with the new, which is great for a fresh start, but not so great for our rubbish bins or our bank accounts. To avoid creating piles of avoidable waste or splashing out on a brand new wardrobe, garden or house makeover, make sure to follow our top tips for a zero waste Spring Clean:

1)      Clothes Clothes should never end up in your rubbish bin! If you find yourself with clothes or textiles you no longer want, you can donate them to charity, swap with a friend, or – if they can’t be worn – recycle them. You even make some extra cash by selling your clothes at a local car boot sale, or save money by repairing your old clothes instead of buying brand new ones. Click here for basic repair tips for your clothes. Click here to find your nearest textiles recycling bank

 2)      Garden There’s a lot of waste associated with gardening – both garden waste and electronic waste. Check with your local council to see what your garden waste collection process is for your grass cuttings, leaves, plants, weeds and hedge clippings. You might also come back to some of your trusty electronic garden tools to find they don’t work anymore. Before binning them, why not see if you can repair them first? Have a search for a local reuse and/or repair organisation near you, where you might be able to save yourself some cash by repairing an item or buying a second hand replacement. 

3)      Furniture Fly-tipping is spoils your local landscape and makes local animals and wildlife vulnerable to choking or getting caught up on plastic materials. Avoid having to dump items by looking up your nearest household waste and recycling centre where you can take your old furniture, or order a bulky waste collection. You can also save money on a brand new item, by upcycling your furniture into a new, unique piece. Click here for upcycling ideas!  Click here to find out where you can recycle a specific item 

4)      Electronics Electronic waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the UK. With the average person buying 3 new gadgets every year, it’s unsurprising that over 1 million tonnes of our gadgets are binned every year. So it’s really important to ask yourself a few questions before you upgrade an electronic item: 1) is my item broken? 2) Can I repair this item? 3) Can I buy my new item second hand? 4) How do I dispose of my old item correctly?

Click here to find out where you can recycle a specific electronic items 

The plastic tide is turning – But have we bitten off more than we can chew?

This week, Michael Gove announced that the UK will introduce a plastic bottle deposit return scheme (DRS) to increase recycling rates and reduce the amount of litter polluting our land and seas.

The scheme will work by using a “reverse vending” process, in which consumers are refunded money for returning their drinks bottles back to retailers. Research by the parliamentary Environmental Audit Committeefound countries with deposit return schemes tended to recycle between 80% and 95% of their plastic bottles. It is hoped that the scheme will be able to boost England’s stagnating recycling rate, which is 57% for plastic bottles, compared to other European nations who are recording recycling rates for bottles at 98%.

While the introduction of the DRS has been hailed as a success by many environmental groups, some troubling questions are starting to emerge about how the scheme will be implemented and how it will impact current systems in the UK. 

Can our infrastructure cope? 

The UK is considerably more densely populated than other the European nations using DRS, which poses technical challenges for implementation. Experts have warned that there are not currently enough recycling plants to process the increased amount of plastic that would need to be processed on home soil. Local councils have also expressed concerns that implementing a deposit return scheme on top of current waste and recycling systems could undercut their revenues, which currently benefit from plastic recycling collections. PET bottles are worth around £130 a tonne, which is a major income stream for local councils. 

Are retailers on board? Major retailers are largely on board with the DRS, but some issues have been raised over how the scheme will work in practice and a lack of overall brief. Many in the retail industry feel there is no clear direction on how users will interact with the scheme, such as the fact that different strategies will be needed for urban areas and more sparsely populated areas. There is also no clear consensus as to which system people should favour – their kerbside collection or the DRS? 

Will the scheme reducer litter? 

Litter reduction has been cited as one of the key aims of the deposit return scheme, but there is little evidence that the scheme will actually achieve this. Reducing litter and encouraging recycling on the go is a notoriously difficult behaviour to address. A DEFRA report has shown that monetary or other rewards are unlikely to encourage consumers to use recycling bins outside of their house. A German study published four years after its deposit scheme was introduced also found no evidence of litter reduction. 

Can the scheme succeed? 

The positive news is that the DRS has come at a time when people are increasingly aware of the dangers of plastics and the need to avoid throwing them in the bin or leave them lying around without properly disposing of them. Our ‘plastic problem’ has become a topical issue, thanks to the Blue Planet II series and various social media campaigns, which have led to some major retailers making pledges to reduce the amount of plastics they produce or use on site. This political climate suggests the DRS would receive high levels of engagement and correspondingly high plastic recycling rates. 

The truth behind China’s plastic ban – How recycling in the UK will really be affected

If you’ve heard about China’s Plastic Ban, you’re probably wondering how it will affect plastic recycling the UK…

Dispelling the myths 

The news that China will no longer be taking the UK’s plastic waste has triggered questioning over our domestic recycling processes and the negative media coverage has left UK residents worrying that the plastic they recycle won’t actually be reprocessed. But, a closer look into what is happening on the ground in the UK recycling industry shows positive developments as a result of the ban on exporting plastic to China coming into action this January (2018). 

New momentum 

While the ban has been portrayed as a blow to the UK by the media, it has actually been branded as “good news” by many in the industry because it has forced a rethink of the UK’s current mixed recycling system. The increased demand for domestic plastic reprocessing services has led to more plans to open recycling plants opening in the UK. Last month, waste management firm Panda, announced it will open a recycling facility for waste plastic films in the UK. The plant will process 10-15,000 tonnes of plastic film a year, to be sold back to supermarkets. What’s more, for some UK-based plastic re-processors, the increased pressure from the government on producers has led to an increased demand for their services. One UK-based HDPE plastic recycler said: “In all honesty we haven’t seen any drop in the use of plastics. If anything, particularly for recycled plastic, demand is growing. The press around plastic has done nothing other than stimulate lots of activity for us.”

New markets 

Many experts in the industry are also seeing the Chinese plastic import ban as positive because it has resulted in new markets opening up, and “a larger pool to choose from”. New markets that are taking plastic for reprocessing are in Eastern Europe and south east Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. The result of these new markets has been an actual increase in the amount of plastic exported for reprocessing. Figures show that 28,354 tonnes of plastic waste were accepted or exported in January 2018, which is an increase on the amount exported for the same period last year.

How much did we send to China in the first place? 

Many local authorities have not been affected by the ban, as they have never exported any plastic waste to China in the first place. In January, the North London Waste Authority released details of the plastic waste they process and how it is reprocessed. Figures from their 2016/17 collections show that only 13% of household waste they collect is plastic, which amounted to nearly 75,000 tonnes. Of that collected plastic, almost 100% was sent to UK re-processors.

What does this mean for me?

So the good news is – there is plenty of reason to keep recycling plastics and you should see no changes to how you normally recycle. Make sure you’re up to date with the latest guidance on what and cannot be recycled in your area by checking with your Local Council or the Recycle Now website, Plastics are processed differently by different councils, so always make sure to check before you chuck! 

What could a plastic bottle return scheme mean for the UK?

This week we heard that the UK government is considering adopting a plastic bottle scheme, similar to one used in Norway. The scheme would see people who return their plastic bottles refunded the equivalent of 10p to 25p, depending on the size. 

In Norway the scheme is responsible for recycling 97% of bottles in the country and has massively reduced plastic litter in the environment and seas. Experts claim that local authorities could save up to £35 million ever year, if the deposit return scheme were to be introduced. A report based on the data from eight local councils with varying recycling rates found that councils could make savings of between £60,000 and £500,000 each, due to reduced littering and landfill charges. But some local councils have expressed concerns that a deposit return scheme would lose them money, by undercutting their income stream from kerbside collections. Nonetheless, there is a clear problem with plastic waste in the UK and greater incentives to recycle plastic are needed. Only 57% plastic bottles get recycled in the UK, compared to Germany and Denmark which both have deposit return schemes and see more than 90% of plastic bottles returned. Plastic pollution also affects UK oceans, with a third of the fish caught in UK waters, including cod, haddock and mackerel, found to contain plastic. Figures from 2016 show that one million plastic bottles were bought a minute around the world, and this number is expected to increase by 20% by 2021. Of this number, fewer than half were recycled and just 7% were turned into new bottles – while most ended up in landfill or in the ocean.  With the plastic problem now receiving increasing amounts of media attention, it looks likely that we will see increasing efforts from the government to tackle the issue.

ICIPS collaboration award nomination for Warwick County Council and Local Green Points

Warwickshire County Council has been working in partnership with Local Green Points over the last 18 months to deliver the innovative Slim Your Bin campaign for residents across Warwickshire. The collaborative nature of the project and its success in improving recycling behaviours across the county has earned the campaign a nomination for the 2018 Collaboration Award with the Institute for Continuous Improvement in Public Services (ICiPS).

The Slim Your Bin campaign launched in November 2016 across Warwickshire’s five Boroughs and Districts as part of a drive to encourage households to recycle more and throw away less, thus ‘slimming’ their rubbish bins. Residents are encouraged to change their behaviours towards waste and recycling through a communications campaign, website and app and are rewarded for their actions with individual and community based prizes.

The Warwickshire Recycling Champion of the Year 2018 contest has since been launched alongside Slim Your Bin to identify a top recycler from the Slim Your Bin audience and a runner up from each Borough and District. Warwickshire County Council has partnered with Shakespeare’s England, local tourism provider, to offer a luxurious staycation at Coombe Abbey Hotel as first prize and other local tourism vouchers for the runners up.

The fifth annual ICiPS awards will be presented at an award dinner on Wednesday 14th March 2018 at Leeds City Museum. Keep an eye out for the results to see whether our partnership work bags us first, second or third prize at the ceremony!

A huge thank you to the hundreds of Warwickshire residents who have already signed up to Slim Your Bin. If you live in the county and haven’t joined yet, you’ll be pleased to hear it’s not too late! You can activate your account online at www.warwickshire.slim-your-bin.com

If you’re interested in learning how Local Green Points can work with you to develop an engaging communications campaign for your residents, please get in touch with Robin Farwell at [email protected]

War declared on plastic waste. Are we on track for a cleaner, greener Britain?

PM Theresa May promises that the UK will become international leaders on environmental issues, as she unveils a 25 year environmental plan

With plastic pollution at ‘near permanent levels of contamination to the natural environment’, down to humans having produced 8.3bn tonnes of the material since the 1950s, it’s fitting that the plans focus heavily on plastic waste. Proposed policies include plastic free aisles in supermarkets, extending the levy on plastic bags, increased funding for research and a tax on takeaway containers. 

After the hugely successful 5p levy on plastic bags, which saw 70% more shoppers switch to reusable shopping bags, May has promised to extend the levy to smaller shops. In a similar vein, we may soon see the levy charged on single-use plastic takeaway containers.

Another plan is to encourage supermarkets to introduce aisles without any plastic packaging, where products would instead be sold loose and collected in your own reusable storage containers. These plans are welcomed by UK consumers after a survey in July 2017 found that nine out of 10 of us demand more plastic free aisles. When comparing the choice to go ‘plastic free’ with dietary preferences like ‘dairy-free’ and ‘fat-free’, where alternative options are widely available, consumers are asking why they don’t get as much of a say about packaging. A number of plastic free supermarkets are already paving the way for zero-waste lifestyles – check out these examples to see how it’s already being done: Bulk Market, LondonThe Zero Waste Shop, Totnes; and In Gredients, Texas.

With a global outlook, the new plans also outline a new ‘plastics innovation’ research fund and aid to support developing nations in dealing with their plastic problems.

Although environmental groups welcome the ambition of the 25 year plan, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn have voiced concerns about the proposals. The biggest criticism being about the lack of immediate action.

The plans aim to stop all avoidable plastic waste by 2042 but the worry is that this may be far too late. The plastic we have already produced will last for hundreds or thousands of years in landfill, in our waterways or the oceans – where impacts of this pollution are devastating. Studies show that 90% of sea birds have eaten plastic and one in three fish caught in the Channel contain pieces of plastic. 

While you wait for the war on plastics to take action, there are plenty of ways to fight plastic waste yourself. At Local Green Points we are engaging residents from across the UK in waste minimisation and we recommend that you:

1) Shop smart – by thinking about the products you buy, you can reduce plastic waste every time you shop. Opt for loose products or those with the least packaging possible.

2) Recycle what you can – lots of plastics can be recycled and turned into something new, preventing the need for production of more raw materials. Check with your local council or the Recycling Locator to see what can be recycled near you.

3) Clean up the mess – no matter where you live, there will be a way you can help clear up plastic waste in your area. You could volunteer for a beach clean, river clear out or local litter pick and your efforts could benefit countless ecosystems. 

A radical policy change is required to get the UK to its 50% target by 2020

Last week, it became clear that a radical policy change will be needed for the UK to hit its household recycling target of 50% by 2020.

Figures from the end of December 2016 show a 0.6% decline from 2014’s peak of 44.8% to 44.2% at the end of 2016. These figures reveal a worrying trend that current household recycling rates in England have stagnated at under 45% and are a long way off our 2020 target.So what’s holding us back? “A clear national strategy to end stalling rates of recycling is still required,” said waste firm SUEZ’s chief executive David Palmer-Jones. “To increase household recycling rates, Government needs to integrate waste and recycling planning into a modern Industrial Strategy which values the things we throw away as raw materials for manufacturing, and as an energy resource.”

At Jump we know one of the key barriers to recycling is a lack of information and a lack of incentives for people to engage with the information provided to them and change their current recycling behaviours. Our recycling reward schemes engage with communities to encourage residents to reduce, reuse and recycle by using a combination of web and app platforms, communications campaigns and face to face engagement to connect with our target audience. We find rewards and incentives key to promoting ongoing behaviour change, so we reward members of our campaigns with points for every positive step they take – whether it’s preventing food waste, recycling more, using a Bring bank or reducing contamination. Residents work together to earn the most points and win prizes for their local community.

Thanks to our Jump scheme, Camden Recycling Rewards, residents in the London Borough of Camden are recycling 10% more of their household items that they did last year. Our recycling reward scheme in the London Borough of Bexley, London Green Points – Bexley, has recently been shortlisted for a prestigious LGC Environmental Services award. Bexley has the highest household recycling rate in the capital (52%) which is well above the national average. The Local Green Points scheme enabled Bexley to engage with communities in some of the Borough’s most deprived and hard to reach areas. A Bexley member of the London Green Points – Bexley scheme said: “I wasn’t recycling until Local Green Points came along”. 

For more information or to request a case study, email [email protected]BACK

Swansea University’s Swell programme is shortlisted for Edie’s Sustainability Leaders Awards.

Our sustainability and wellbeing programme at Swansea University has been shortlisted as a finalist for the 2018 Edie Sustainability Leaders Awards, in the Engagement and Behaviour change category.

The Edie awards celebrate sustainability excellence and innovation and we are thrilled that Swansea University’s programme has been recognised for its positive impact and achievements at the university.

The programme, named SWell, uses an innovative online platform and app to motivate employees to take part in sustainability and wellbeing activities. Through team work, friendly competition and rewards for participating teams and individuals, these sustainable steps become embedded in the university culture.

Since its introduction at the university just over a year ago, the SWell programme has seen over 23,000 kg of CO2 saved from employees travelling sustainably, a 19% reduction in carbon intensity, over 105,000 miles travelled sustainably and over 45,000 positive actions logged.

We’re delighted the programme has been spotlighted for its success in reducing carbon emissions, saving energy and incentivise employees to take part in wellbeing initiatives and we look forward to the announcement of the winners at the awards ceremony dinner 24th January 2018.

Want to find out how we could encourage your staff to act more sustainably? Please get in touch at [email protected].

Camden recycling rewards motivates residents to recycle 10% more than last year.

Thanks to our Local Green Points scheme, Camden Recycling Rewards,residents in the London Borough of Camden are recycling 10% more of their household items that they did last year.

Since its launch in October 2016, the scheme has been rewarding residents in the London Borough of Camden for recycling more and producing less household waste. Residents are rewarded with Green Points for reporting their weekly recycling and taking part in online activities such as making the switch to using real nappies, or taking part in local reuse events and workshops.Waste tonnages are also measured and points awarded to communities when the amount wasted decreases and the amount recycled increases. Monthly voucher prizes are awarded to individuals who earn the most Green Points and just for signing up, every resident receives a discount card that they can use to redeem exclusive discounts and special offers at participating local businesses. The scheme has a strong community focus, as communities are able to vote for their favourite local charities to receive a share of £5,000 at the end of every six months.

The recent data showing that residents are now putting around 10% more recycling in their recycling bins, as compared to the same time last year, is excellent news and exactly what Camden Council had hoped for when we started working with them. We are extremely pleased with the results and look forward to seeing residents continue to respond positively to the scheme in the upcoming months. Residents and local businesses can participate in Camden Recycling Rewards for free. Residents just need to activate their accounts online at camden.gov.uk/recyclingrewards or over the phone on 020 7326 5055 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5:30pm).

For more information about our recycling rewards schemes, or to request a case study email [email protected]

The hunt is on … For Warwickshire’s recycling champion of the year.

We’ve launched an exciting new contest for residents of Warwickshire County Council: Warwickshire’s Recycling Champion of the Year 2018. We’ve teamed up with Warwickshire Waste Partnership, to deliver the contest to residents in Warwickshire’s five districts and boroughs: Warwick, Stratford-on-Avon District, Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough, Rugby Borough and North Warwickshire Borough.  

The contest will engage residents in recycling more of their everyday household items and will be a fantastic opportunity to recognise and reward local recycling champions. There are plenty of prizes up for grabs for top recyclers, including a two night staycation in the luxury Lady Craven Suite at the Coombe Abbey hotel, provided by Shakespeare’s England. With online heats and a live final at the Market Hall Museum in Warwick, this looks set to be an exciting contest! To take part, residents will need to be signed up to the Slim Your Bin campaign, which we’ve been running with Warwickshire Waste Partnership in Warwickshire’s 5 districts and boroughs since November 2016. Anyone in Warwickshire can sign up for free by visiting www.warwickshire.slim-your-bin.com. Once signed up, residents can nominate themselves to take part in the contest by filling in a quick, online form at:  www.warwickshire.slim-your-bin.com/recyclingchamp. Nominations will close on November 30th this year and finalists will go head-to-head at a live final at the Market Hall Museum in Warwick next spring. 

Like many of our other Recycling Reward schemes, the Slim Your Bin campaign motivates residents to recycle by delivering an innovative online platform and communications campaign, helping residents learn how to recycle more and waste less and motivating them to ‘slim’ their bins. In keeping with our approach of using incentives and rewards to inspire behaviour change, the campaign rewards residents for recycling with individual prizes for top bin ‘dieters’ and community prizes for the communities that recycle the most. We’re really looking forward to seeing how the competition progresses and the impact is has on community recycling rates! 

Think you could run a competition like this in your area? Feel free to contact us by calling 020 7326 5055 or emailing [email protected] for more information.

Recycle Week 2017 is here!

RECYCLE WEEK 2017 IS HERE!

This week sees the launch of Recycle Week 2017. The annual UK-wide campaign is taking place all week from Monday 25 September to Sunday 1 October.

This year’s theme ‘Recycling – it’s worth it!’ will use online videos and infographics to show the public that making the effort to recycle is environmentally and economically worth the time and effort. The sub-theme ‘What goes around comes around’ will also be a core message being circulated in this week as part of the campaign, with videos featuring positive recycling feedback loops for everyday household items, from potatoes to shampoo bottles.  

 This year’s campaign will also raise awareness of items that can be recycled from all around the house, such as bathroom items which are often neglected. According to a recent Recycle Now poll, almost 90% of people claim to regularly recycle from the kitchen, but only 52% say they regularly recycle from the bathroom.   

What’s more, a consumer poll showed that many people did not believe the materials in their recycled items could come into circulation as a brand new item, such as a toothpaste box coming back as a sweet box. The campaign aims to emphasise the power of the circular economy and raise awareness of just how much of a difference simple steps to recycle as many household items as possible can make.

We’ll be sharing their message from our Jump Twitter Page this week and look forward to seeing all the support for the campaign! Here at Local Green Points we make recycling worth it for all members of our recycling rewards schemes. Our work with local councils motivates residents to recycle more and reduce contamination, through engaging communications and recycling door to door campaigns. We find rewards and incentives key to promoting ongoing behaviour change, so we reward members of our campaigns with points for every positive step they take – whether it’s preventing food waste, recycling more, using a Bring bank or reducing contamination. Residents work together to earn the most points and win prizes for their local community. 

Charities, Challenges & Recycling Champions – A summer update

It’s been a really busy summer for us here Jump (Local Green Points), with plenty of highlights to share with you –  including the launch of our Food Waste challenge, door to door campaigns, charity cheque presentations, and new partners we’re excited to start working with.Here’s a quick summary of what we’ve been up to over the past few months…

The Food Waste Challenge is live! 

Our Food Waste Challenge is well and truly launched! The London Borough of Havering and the Borough of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk are the first of our Local Green Points schemes to launch the innovative online platform, which asks residents to make pledges based on the five food waste ‘themes’ identified by WRAP and offers tools and guidance to help them cut down their food waste. The Food Waste Challenge will also be launching in the London Boroughs of Camden and Waltham Forest later this year, where we look forward to seeing more residents saving money by cutting down their household food waste. Keep an eye on our press page for all the updates. 

Local charities feel the benefits 

This summer we’ve been busy awarding donations to charities and community projects around the UK on behalf of members of our Jump (Local Green Points) schemes. As a reward for cutting down waste and increasing recycling, members can choose their favourite community project to receive donations on their behalf. Since May, we’ve awarded over £12,000 to charities in Hammersmith & FulhamWaltham ForestWarwickshireWest Norfolk and Hackney. For more details, visit our press page.   

Knock knock… 

Following a successful first year of West Norfolk Recycling Rewards, The Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk commissioned us to canvass 10,000 households across the Borough. Our Recycling Advisors spoke to residents about their recycling services and helped them sign up to the rewards scheme. We’ve also been busy working with Kingston Council to sign up residents to Kingston Recycling Rewards, as well as with Westminster City Council on a project to raise awareness about recycling and reduce contamination rates in the local area – and we’ve already recycling rates increase in the areas where doors were knocked. For more information about our door to door campaigns, have a look at our blog on how to run a successful door to door campaign

The hunt is on for Warwickshire Recycling Champion of the Year 

We’re working with Warwickshire Waste Partnership to launch an exciting new competition to Warwickshire residents: the Warwickshire Recycling Champion of the Year. With online heats and a live final at Market Hall Museum in Warwick, the competition is not to be missed! There are some exciting prizes up for grabs, including a two night staycation for two in the luxury Lady Craven Suite at the Coombe Abbey hotel, provided by Shakespeare’s England. To be in with a chance of winning, you’ll need to sign up to the ‘Slim Your Bin’ campaign at: www.warwickshire.slim-your-bin.com. It’s free to enter and open to all Warwickshire residents. 

Coming soon…Epping Forest Recycling Rewards! 

We’re thrilled to announce that this autumn we will be launching Epping Forest Recycling Rewards – our latest Jump scheme. We’ll be bringing you more details of the scheme in the next few months, so keep an eye out for the launch on our press page. It’s an exciting time ahead for us, with plenty to keep us on our toes! We look forward to keeping you posted 🙂